A survey conducted by the
Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHCEK) reveals that a
majority of senior center residents have living relatives but that they
prefer to live in centers because of a lack of care from their
relatives. The
research was carried out in connection with the Project on Reducing
Social Risk (SRAP). It also estimates that 9 percent of the Turkish
population will be over the age of 65 by 2010. Nearly half, 45 percent,
of participants in 63 senior centers in 46 provinces noted they were
from rural areas. A majority of them are widowed and undereducated; 59
percent of the survey participants did not even finish primary school.
However, the research also shows that those who are waiting for
admission are relatively better educated; 90 percent of male senior
center inhabitants and one in three females were previously employed.
More than half of surveyed seniors do not benefit from any social
security or pension system.

According
to the research, 85 percent of respondents have at least one living
relative, whereas 14 percent have none. Half of the seniors who have
one relative noted they were able to see their relatives at least once
a month and half indicated they were being financially supported by
their relatives. Thirty eight percent of center residents who have been
living there for a relatively long time described the center as "home,"
20 percent as "place to live in," and 22 percent as "a residential
place with hard conditions." Their stated reasons for living in the
centers are "difficulty in living alone," a wish "not to be a burden on
the family," "inability to take care of [him/herself] in daily life"
and "health reasons."